UB Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Microsoft Office 2008 screenshots

by David Chartier (Jan 10th, 2007)

I managed to swing by the Microsoft Office booth just in time for a demo of Office 2008, and I snapped a few screenshots. The presentation was made with Word since, as the demo folk pointed out, it is the app they have completed the most code on. As Scott mentioned, the words "page layout" were ...

QTAmateur does full-screen playback, batch exporting, more

by David Chartier (Oct 30th, 2006)

QTAmateur brings a lot of the handy QuickTime Pro features to the table without having to pay the $30 upgrade. Full screen video playback (with a more streamlined, iTunes 7-like video window) and batch exporting of any format QuickTime can read and write make for a handy little app. QTAmateur is ...

Keyword Assistant for iPhoto goes Universal

by David Chartier (Sep 11th, 2006)

Keyword Assistant is a stellar iPhoto plugin that dramatically simplifies the chore of adding keywords to images. In fact, one could go so far as to say Keyword Assistant brings tagging to iPhoto, but we'll let you judge for yourself. As you can see, it adds a menu item to iPhoto, as well as a ...

Hazel - automated file management

by David Chartier (Sep 7th, 2006)

Hazel is one of those rare pieces of software (with a strange name) that feels like it's filling a gaping feature void I didn't even know Apple left in Mac OS X: it's a powerful, rule-based file and folder management app that brings a little bit of Automator, AppleScript and Folder Actions to the ...

Universal Binary of Flash Player 9 released

by David Chartier (Aug 12th, 2006)

Adobe has cranked out a Universal Binary of Flash Player 9 for Intel Mac consumption. Strangely, a PowerPC-only build is still available on the download page, though Insanely Mac is reporting that it's an earlier build. If you're interested in what's actually new in this latest version, check out ...

Weekend review: this week's software for 8-06-06

by David Chartier (Aug 6th, 2006)

I hope you've cleaned out your downloads directory, because we have another roundup of software for the week of 7-30-06 to 8-5-06: Shareware Pukka 1.3 - del.icio.us bookmarking utility gets private 'mark and AppleScript support Packrat 0.87 - killer offline Backpack client (probably the only) ...

Weekend Review: this week's software for 7-30-06

by David Chartier (Jul 30th, 2006)

It was another packed week for software premieres and updates, so here is a roundup in case you missed them the first time around: Shareware Groupcal 3 - manage your Exchange calendar from iCal EyeTV 2.3 - Front Row-like menu and speed boosts OmniPlan (beta) - OmniGroup's brand new project ...

Unsanity releases beta of Universal ShapeShifter

by David Chartier (Jul 27th, 2006)

In a post aptly titled 'At Long Last!', Unsanity announced a beta of a Universal version of ShapeShifter, their UI haxie for skinning Mac OS X. As the post states, your Intel Mac can finally "get its spank on" (what on Earth are those guys at Unsanity selling??). Obviously, as their post states, ...

Weekend review: this week's software

by David Chartier (Jul 16th, 2006)

In case you missed them the first time, here is this week's review of software releases, updates, thrills and spills: Shareware Call Recorder plugin for Skype - don't blackmail without it Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.2.5 - vulnerability and bug fixes Mouseposé 2 - new features for ...

Google Earth goes Universal

by David Chartier (Jun 12th, 2006)

Google has not only released a beta (of course) version of Google Earth with loads of juicy new features and enhancements, but it has also gone Universal. I can't find any official information at the Google Earth site about the Universal update, but MacUpdate has a link with all the pertinent info. ...

Weird software: Lonesome Electric Chicken

by David Chartier (Jun 7th, 2006)

I wish I had a more insightful or enlightening explanation for what the Lonesome Electric Chicken is, but I'm afraid there really isn't one. As its author, John Schilling, states on his site, it's a: "time and life wasting application that spews forth a gathering of quotations. That's it. Don't ...

Surprise - Thunderbird 1.5.0.4 released with Universal goodness

by David Chartier (Jun 2nd, 2006)

Right alongside Firefox's update today, Mozilla has also brought Thunderbird up to the 1.5.0.4 (.3.2.1.12) version with a big improvement for Intel Mac owners: Universal Binary super-powers. Also in this update are security and bug fixes. Let us all take a moment of silence in remembrance of the ...

DivX 6.5 offers Universal Binary player, encoder

by David Chartier (May 26th, 2006)

DivX has released what Macworld is calling their first official player for Mac OS X (though I could have sworn I've used DivX software in the past in a pinch). In case you aren't familiar: DivX is an independent video codec that has quite a strong following, and it isn't just for computers; many ...

Delibar goes Universal

by David Chartier (May 24th, 2006)

Delibar, what I consider to be the missing link of social bookmarking, has been updated as a Universal Binary. No other major new features have been added, but this is a welcome update to my favorite tool for accessing del.icio.us bookmarks from the menubar. Delibar is donationware and available ...

EazyDraw 2.0 - illustration and drawing for Mac OS X

by David Chartier (May 12th, 2006)

EazyDraw dubs itself as a "balanced vector drawing application," and from browsing its feature list, that sounds just about right. It looks like it has a nice array of illustration tools and abilities including some CAD-related features like wall and window tools, as well as drawing on a grid. ...